1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toy block sets and more precisely to toy block sets which include a plurality of toy blocks that are slidably, pivotally and fixably coupled to one another and which are further capable of three dimensional slidable and pivotal maneuvering with respect to one another by virtue of rail extension members, rail guide members and pivot members.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following patents describe the state of the art in toy blocks and toy block sets.
Lego.RTM. Technic presently demonstrates an electric motor system which includes a rectangular Lego.RTM. piece having a pair of symmetrical protrusions and having centrally located on one side wall an extension which includes a first thinner portion which extends longitudinally across the entire length of the side wall of the rectangular block and a second wider portion having the same height as the main body of the block.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 221,092 shows a component for a multi-pieced block which has circular recesses and also shows cut-outs opposite one another.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 233,542 shows a toy building element that includes symmetric protrusions and slotted side extensions opposite one another.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 290,627 shows a toy building element with a telescopic extension having symmetrical protrusions.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 311,935 shows a toy building element having a square base and a circular extension with symmetric protrusions.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 336,120 shows a toy building block having hour glass and semi-hourglass shaped bores and centrally located circular bores.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 336,666 shows a toy building block having rectangular bores and a central circular bore.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 355,452 shows a toy I-beam block having an extended beam located between like square blocks.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 356,124 shows a toy I-beam and block wherein the I-beam is extended outwardly from the side of the block.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 367,898 shows a toy construction block with a T-slot for allowing interconnection with T-shaped members.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 377,377 shows a toy construction block with a plurality of T-slots for allowing interconnection with T-shaped members.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,281,856 shows different toy block configurations with grooves and recesses which retain elongated rectangular fixed pieces.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,020,562 teaches a set of blocks having outer exposed surfaces which enable interlocking joinder via interlocking recesses and partial interlocking projections which enable slidable and frictional union thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,077,065 shows a toy log block house configuration which has rectangular plate-like slabs for interconnection with corresponding blocks with cut-outs thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,254 describes a toy building block including inclined side faces and symmetrical protrusions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,175 shows a railroad puzzle game which includes slidable box cars which engage extension tracks such that inner edges of the track are provided with undercut grooves which correspond to extending flanges on the box cars.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,683 teaches a toy building element comprising a rectangular block having top, side, and end walls defining a cavity and at least one pair of projections within said cavity, an insert fitted into said cavity comprising a plate having the same outline as the internal face of the top wall of said block and on its inner face at least one pair of projections providing a clamping engagement with the projections of said block, said projections, top, and insert forming a channel within said cavity transverse to opposing walls of said block adapted to receive a bushing, and a bushing rotatably disposed within said channel, at least one of said opposing walls having an aperture therein aligned with said bushing and adapted to receive a spindle for insertion in said bushing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,242, 610 teaches a flexible interconnector for interconnecting plastic building blocks of the type having a pattern of protuberances on an outer surface thereof and means within the blocks for individually frictionally engaging with said protuberances, comprising at least two flat sheets mutually interconnected by a single, integral means comprising a member narrow but thick in relation to said sheets and sufficiently long and flexible readily to permit movement to said sheets having on one surface thereof means comprising a pattern of protuberances corresponding to at least enough of the pattern of the protuberances of the blocks with which it is to be used to be individually frictionally engaged by means within the blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,007 shows a toy building blocks set which includes brick-like block elements with extended portions and central grooves for allowing inner-connection with other like blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,122 shows various blocks having orthogonal recessed faces which may be coupled with like projections so as to permit interconnection of such blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,875 shows toy building blocks of similar shape but constructed to different modules. They are buildable together and, to this end, the inner protrusions of the smaller blocks coact with the outer projections of the larger blocks differently from the coaction within the module.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,017 shows a slide-bar assembly which includes a rectangular elongated hollow female member and an elongated male member adapted for slidable mounting within the female member. The slide-bar assembly, however, teaches slidable movement along only one axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,153 shows the coupling of two plate-shaped elements by means of an interlocking arrangement formed along the edges of the elements. The locking members of one element are in resilient engagement with identical locking members on the other element, the thickness of the element and the members being strategered alternately to one side and the other of a plane through the center of the edge parallel to the side faces of the element.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,031 teaches a toy block set wherein all of the blocks have the same configuration and dimensions and wherein each of said blocks includes rectilinear guide grooves which serve as tracks for guiding a toy vehicle thereupon.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,090 teaches toy building blocks having dovetail tongue and groove configurations for interlocking with adjacent blocks by sliding in a longitudinal direction to achieve connection.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,754 teaches an assembly kit which comprises a plurality of prismatic building blocks each having at least one face portion provided with a narrow elongated slit being a rectilinear non-circular crosssectional outline. A plurality of connecting elements are provided, and each comprises a pair of connecting portions complimentary to said slits and having transversely established portions which are resiliently deformed upon insertion into the slits of registering blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,497 shows a construction kit that comprises male and female elements, preferably of molded plastic material, for assembly into various model structures. The male elements have cubic bodies with studs protruding from two or more faces and the female elements are elongated U-section pieces having corresponding square end walls with keyhole-shaped openings for receiving and gripping shanks of the studs whose heads are guided and held between the lateral walls of the female elements. The male elements can be formed interengaging pieces, and may possibly be pivotally joined.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,072 teaches a toy construction kit is provided which includes, as basic building elements, a plurality of interlockable plate members, each plate member having a tongue along one side and a groove along the other side whereby two or more plate members can be connected together in a tongue and groove fashion to form a composite structural member with the preferred composite structural member being a hollow polyhedron such as a right rectangular prism. The plate members have apertures for receiving dowel members which have a slot extending along their length so that each dowel member may be force-inserted into one of the apertures for being compressively retained therein. The dowel members also have keyhole-shaped apertures on each end for receiving flat panel members and lock pins. Disc-shaped hubs, wheels and angle blocks are provided for being carried by the dowel members. The angle blocks are provided with projecting pins for being received in the apertures of the plate members. The angle blocks further have a central aperture for receiving a dowel member and have a keyhole-shaped aperture in each projecting pin. The lock pin may be received in the keyhole-shaped aperture of the dowel members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,410 shows a suspension device for slidable and pivotal suspension of a base plate for toy building sets or base boards for visual planning panels. One face of the base plate or board is provided with rows of coupling studs including a plurality of studs informally spaced apart in both longitudinal and transverse directions, and the suspension device includes a gripping member having inwardly projecting guides adapted to slide along the base plate between a pair of rows of projections and to support the base plate when suspended on a wall. The device is further provided with a hinge member pivotally mounted on top of the gripping member, so as to provide for pivotal movements of the base plate which is mounted by means of the slidable suspension device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,268 teaches a toy building block set that has flat plate elements of semi-elastic plastic materials that interlock with pressure inserted ball socket joints. The flat plates may have various geometric shapes such as triangles, squares, etc., with each side the same length and having identical mating ball and joint locking elements. Along each block side mid-spaced between the center and two corners are respectively a ball and socket. Means are provided for mounting shafts through holes in the plates.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,733 shows a track for toy trains that is made by detachably connecting a plurality of rail elements having lengthwise extending rail-forming ribs with tie elements provided with connecting members which are adapted to be clamped into cavities in the bottom of the rails adjacent the end thereof, so as to provide a sort of snap-locking device, including: in the rails: a lengthwise extending cavity in the bottom of the rails defined by side walls and end walls. In the bottom of the cavity adjacent the end walls there is provided an aperture which communicates with another aperture extending transversely through the rib on the top face of the rail, and in ties; pairs of upwardly extending spring clips interspaced at a distance corresponding to the gauge of the track and having a socket fitting into the cavity of the rails, a pair of upwardly extending, resiliently deformable tongues provided with outwardly projecting flanges, the lower faces of which are adapted to engage the upper face of the rails, when sockets are plugged into the cavities of the rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,515 shows a track system for toy vehicles that contains straight and curved track pieces at the end of which are reference points of a track grid having a track module which is a multiple of the building module.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,104 shows a connecting system for a toy building set comprises a first coupling part and a second coupling part, which are provided on their respective ones of a pair of building elements, adapted to be interconnected, and are formed with respective complimentary coupling elements. The coupling parts in the connecting elements of the invention are adapted to interconnect the elements by elastic movement of at least one coupling part. The interconnection is flexible and may be fixed with a clamping device, which blocks the elastic movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,218 shows toy building blocks capable of assembly in any selected one of a variety of arrangements of contiguous blocks which include a plurality of projections on one face of each block and a plurality of longitudinal and lateral channels on an opposite face of the block, the relative dimensions of the projections and the channels being such that the projections of one block are received in the channels of contiguous block in the selected arrangement for sliding engagement in longitudinal and lateral directions while the projections are engaged with the channel for enabling alterations in the arrangement of contiguous blocks as the assembly is constructed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,643 teaches a toy set connection device which consists of two bushing parts which are fixedly mountable on the shaft. By means of an axial or rotational displacement of the second bushing part relative to the first bushing part, the whole shaft bushing can be anchored in a desired transverse groove on shaft. The anchoring may be released by pulling the second bushing apart from the first part.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,693 teaches toy building blocks of the type having an array of sockets on one principal face and a matching array of projections on the opposite face that can be wedged into the sockets of another block are also joinable in an end to end relationship which enables lateral pivoting of one block in either direction relative to the block with which it is linked. In the preferred form, the opposite ends of the blocks are linkable to still other blocks in a manner which enables pivoting or flexing in an orthogonal direction. This enables assembly of interlocking blocks into a greater variety of different constructions and enables pivoting of linked portions of an assembled construction in a greater number of different directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,428 shows a block unit for a toy block that contains a block body having protrusions and recesses through which the block body is freely connectable to other block units. A rotary shaft is rotatably supported in the block body in such manner that the rotary shaft is extended in a block coupling direction in which the block unit is coupled to the other block units through the protrusions and recesses thereof. The block unit may include a drive source such as an electric motor mounted therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,558 teaches a toy building set element which is formed of a first part which is slidable and resiliently journaled with respect to the first part. Both of the parts have coupling elements thereon which permit coupling of the parts to the other elements of the toy building set. One of the parts may be adapted to receive a shaft through a cylindrical opening that runs perpendicular to the displacement direction of the parts with respect to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,201 shows toy building pieces which may be advantageously used in conjunction with POPSICLE sticks,or their generic equivalents, or other framing pieces or connectors. One or more faces of many of the building pieces apertures are defined in the surface thereof to receive a framing piece such as a POPSICLE stick or connectors which are I-shaped in cross-section.
None of the prior art examples show or teach a plurality of toy block configurations that are slidably, pivotally and fixably coupled to one another and which are further capable of three dimensional slidable and pivotal maneuvering with respect to one another as taught by the present invention.